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Is there a widget for Mac OS X dashboard to write down notes?

N.B. What I use now are yellow small sticky notes (I'm using 8 on several spots on the scren).

I really love them, but sometimes it would be useful to enlarge them and make them bigger rather than put several of them into one.

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I'm using SimpleNote on my Mac and iPhone for pretty much all my note-taking. It automatically syncs notes between computers/devices, so might not be for you if you only want local notes. I find it's really convenient for accessing my notes everywhere, though.

It doesn't look like big sticky notes, instead you get a list view of your notes with a preview, from which you can open the entire note. I find it really pretty, but it might not be the aestethic you're after.

Edit: Forgot to mention that I use the DashNote widget on my Macs. There are other options as well, but they mainly come as stand-alone programs.

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    The question was about dashboard widget. Does SimpleNote have dashboard widget?
    – Wojtek Kruszewski
    Commented Nov 10, 2015 at 13:33
  • @WojtekKruszewski Just updated my answer with a new link to the DashNote widget that uses the same files as SimpleNote.
    – Lizzan
    Commented Nov 10, 2015 at 13:37
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I had the exact same problem, and thus i created "Bigger Notes" widget.

You can find it here:

https://github.com/fauria/bigger-notes

Hope it helps.

Regards.

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  • Ok, I started using the Bigger Notes widget and was enjoying it then... I shut down my computer and when I restarted it, the notes were totally blank. I am so intensely annoyed! Be very careful about putting anything important on those notes or don't use the widget at all.
    – user46143
    Commented Mar 31, 2013 at 12:50
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    Apparently the issue with Bigger Notes not retain notes has been resolved, check the GIT repository for the latest version.
    – nohillside ♦
    Commented Aug 16, 2013 at 5:05
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Unfortunately I haven't come accross anything like Stickies on OS X.

I'm writing this in the hope a Mac developer researching the topic sees an opportunity.

Features from Stickies that I am missing:

  • Toggle Stickies on and off with a global keyboard shortcut.
  • I don't want to go through the Dashboard, I want Stickies to pop on my desktop on command!
  • Set an alarm for any Sticky. Awesome for reminders, or daily tasks. The Sticky note goes to "sleep" (it hides) and will pop on your desktop at the required time. You can even have it play a sound and animate!
  • Simple auto formatting of links. You can drag the browser's uri to a Stickies. You can click links in Stickies to open in browser. Great for keeping lists of articles to read (why would I create a new online account, or use a browser extension when I can freely edit my list anyway I want? Not to mention it is saved somewhere on my harddrive that I can easily read without the application running, and backup).
  • If the text gets long, a scrollbar appears. You can choose how much screen estate to use for your Stickies.
  • You can easily set the title of the Stickies.
  • You can manage the Stickies, hide ones you don't want to see now, and bring them back later. So in effect it also works as a small notes database, but it is primarily a great scratchpad.
  • Being able to hide a Stickies is great because sometimes you may want to keep a Stickies visible while working on something, and you might want to hide others which get in the way.
  • Stickies had awesome shortcuts like: bring back all "hidden" stickies in view.
  • They were not as pretty as OS X Stickies, but you could set transparency and colours freely.

In general I find Mac apps to be superior in usability and looks, but this is one type of app where nearly every attempt I've seen on OS X veers towards "personal wiki" (too much), or online synching (don't need), or just plain clunky (dashboard widget).

I used Stickies on Windows for YEARS. I would totally pay 20 € or more for that on OS X.

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I know this is old but Ill add one that I just found in case people are still looking at this. It's called WikityWidgets I have yet to use it because I just downloaded it but does look like it will be pretty good.

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  • We look form more elaborated answers, please take some time to edit yours, adding why you believe this tool is the best option to solve this need.
    – Thecafremo
    Commented Jun 12, 2013 at 11:09
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    This is the link: inkspotting.com/wikity/WikityWidget.zip Just what I was looking for... Thanks.
    – AhHatem
    Commented Feb 2, 2014 at 13:08
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UPDATE: KNotesWidget link is broken. I searched and found it here.

Perhaps you’re looking for KNotesWidget. (link is broken)

Provides an alternative to Apple’s stickies widget with more functionality:

  • unlimited text size
  • resizeable
  • collapseable
  • allows instant spawn of another k-note
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    Thanks.. my only problem with that is they look so ugly :) You know.. I'm Apple user, I'm a design maniac
    – aneuryzm
    Commented Oct 27, 2010 at 23:52
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    @Patrick nowhere in your question the aesthetic was a requirement :) Given that you’re a design maniac, hack into the widget and make it more pretty :) It’s html/css/javascript anyway.
    – Martin Marconcini
    Commented Oct 28, 2010 at 4:56
  • The KNotesWidget link does not open @Martin Marconcini
    – alper
    Commented Feb 18, 2018 at 10:20
  • Good find Alper. I suppose nobody cares too much about the Dashboard that was such a “great” feature back in the day ;)
    – Martin Marconcini
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 18:37
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http://junecloud.com/software/dashboard/notefile.html

Just what you asked for. Its much better than the default stickies.

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  • thank you! finally, one that is a dashboard widget, somewhat modern, functional, and looks decent! :))
    – verboze
    Commented Jan 31, 2018 at 18:29
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I use Tomboy notes. It's similar to stickies, but with some nice extra features.

  • Link notes together simply by typing a previous notes title in your current note
  • Recently accessed notes are quickly accessible
  • You can 'pin' notes so that they are always quickly accessible
  • Create multiple notebooks

Searching notes and linking related notes together is really easy. The only feature I think it's lacking is a way to sync with my iPhone.

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Check out Secret NotePad. It looks like you can resize it, lock it, and apply various styles to it. It also looks pretty nice.

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Don't use stickies, especially the widget ones that come with the computer because if you click the checkmark box they disapear and you loose all your information. Unless there is a majic way of recovering the data.

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  • Welcome to AD, He's asking for a better solution, not for a Don't use this without explanation which option is better.
    – Rob
    Commented Jun 19, 2014 at 12:52
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Simple Antnotes (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/simple-antnotes/id846599902?mt=12) is a good one.

Pros: 1. A nice interface with a widget. A click will bring it all and another click will hide it all. No accidental delete. Easy to use hide options. 2.Resize, start on login options. 3."Make on top" option with a nice pin button. (ONE THAT IS REALLY HELPFUL) 4."Make translucent on inactive", "Hide on inactive" options.

Cons: Looks like there is only mac app and there is no iOS app. so no sync.

They have a pro version also.

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  • Don't think this works in Dashboard though :-)
    – nohillside ♦
    Commented Apr 10, 2020 at 7:45
  • Ya, it won't.Since 'notification centre' is the now the primary place for widgets, apple diasabled dashboard in yosemite and removed it as of catalina. So probably no app developers will spend time to support this, i guess.
    – Pradul MT
    Commented Apr 11, 2020 at 8:13

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